The Cape Town Waterfront

After visiting Stellenbosch in South Africa, we returned to lovely Cape Town.
Table Mountain as seen from the waterfront.

Cape Town's waterfront is the perfect place for a leisurely stroll, something Harare's not really built for.

The waterfront's clock tower, such an old world charm and a reminder of Cape Town's strong sea-faring history.
Its bottom floor holds an old tidal-gauge mechanism to check tide levels.  I really like clock towers---it had been awhile since I had seen one here.

We tried to visit Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was in prison for decades but the weather was too choppy to take the ferry.
I'm always looking for an excuse to return to Cape Town---this may be it!

Oh! Dakar! How I thought of you immediately, what a strong sense of Senegal being worlds away.

I couldn't resist a few photos of Majeka House where we stayed in Stellenbosch--isn't the breakfast area just adorable? Love the blue.

The view from the breakfast nook.

Absolutely loved the ceiling in our room, a splash of fun color.

The hotel was lined with cactus fences, I thought they were so ingenious.
(Side note: would completely recommend Majeka, it's small, beautiful, and just perfect tucked away in wine country.)

One last shot of the waterfront!!  Then it's back to Zimbabwe....

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Stellenbosch - South Africa Wine Country: J.C. Le Roux

While touring Stellenbosch, South Africa's lovely wine country, we visited J.C. Le Roux.

Oh, Cape Town, be still my heart, how your mountains speak to me.

[This is the view of part of the estate's vineyards.]

J.C. Le Roux is a vineyard for sparkling wine.  We did a marshmallow and meringue tasting, paired with lovely sparkling wine.

The grounds were stunning, worth the visit alone!

The amazing marshmallows, with flavors like coconut and caramel, paired perfectly with lovely sparkling wines.
I had never done a straight sparkling wine tasting before and it was a lot of fun.

Returning to Cape Town, we passed the famous Table Mountain.

Another view of Table Mountain from the waterfront of Cape Town.

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Stellenbosch - South Africa Wine Country: Waterford Estate

While on a trip to Cape Town, I visited South Africa's wine country: Stellenbosch!

Our first stop was Waterford Estate.

On a dreary, rainy southern African afternoon, the coziness and roaring fire was absolutely perfect.

The vineyard was filled with lovely little spots with bursts of color

and an old world feel to it.

The estate was lined with beautiful orange groves.

Such a burst of wonderful color on a dreary day.

The wine was excellent, paired with amazing house chocolates such as rose geranium milk chocolate.

I already want to return to Cape Town (okay, okay, okay, I always want to return to Cape Town) and explore more of Stellenbosch.

Such a lovely change of pace from Zimbabwe.

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The Lake Kariba Smorgasbord

While visiting the lovely Lake Kariba, we came upon this stunning bird.

He would hover like this before dive bombing for food. He was amazing to watch.

An African Fish Eagle --- also Zimbabwe's national bird.

Isn't he just beautiful?

A baby hippo and its pod.

Lake Kariba was just awash with birds.

This guy was on the hunt for food.

Success!

Check out how incredibly graceful he was:

And what is an animal posting without my beloved elephants?

Hello, hippo!

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Take My Breath Away: Drowned Forest Sunset

While visiting Lake Kariba, we watched a stunning sunset from a boat in the middle of the lake.

It reminded me of this absolutely take-my-breath-away sunset in Senegal.

An elephant at sunset.

The tease of the sunset, the wake of our houseboat welcoming it.

Oh! Be still my heart, Zimbabwe, you have once more delivered amazing.

Hello, elephant!  Hello, sunset!

The sun creeping down for the night.

Africa's sun is always so amazingly large, so bright, and so just...perfect.

Remnants of the drowned forest at sunset.

I love sunset, it may be my favorite time of the day.

The start of our sunset houseboat adventure, leaving harbor.

One of Lake Kariba's harbors, the houseboats moored.

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